Sir Des Champs out for the season with injury

Cheltenham Gold Cup runner-up Sir Des Champs will miss the rest of the campaign after sustaining a tendon injury.

Last Updated: 03/01/14 6:03pm

Sir Des Champs: Out for the season

Trained by Willie Mullins and owned by Gigginstown House Stud, there were high hopes for the eight year old who finished second to Bobs Worth in the blue riband event last March before going one better in the Tote.com Punchestown Gold Cup the following month.

Sir Des Champs took an early fall in the John Durkan Memorial Punchestown Chase on his reappearance before finishing fourth in the Lexus Chase over Christmas.

He was was expected to improve for that run but is now set for a spell on the sidelines.

Mullins told his website www.wpmullins.com: "He has suffered slight damage to a tendon. The injury is going to take time to heal so we have decided to pull the plug on the remainder of this season."

The news has had ramifications on the ante-post market for the Gold Cup with Sky Bet cutting Bobs Worth to 2/1 with Silviniaco Conti next best at 7/2.

Spokesman Michael Shinners said: "It's obviously very sad news for connections of the horse and racing fans alike and is a particular blow for the Irish chasers with Flemenstar also being ruled out for the season over the past week.

"Bobs Worth's win in the Lexus Chase clearly marked him down as the one to beat at Cheltenham and we've trimmed his odds accordingly."